Topless Protester Storms Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet

A topless protester has stormed the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with a message written across her torso before being removed by security staff.

The unidentified woman tore her clothes off before removing them to reveal the words ‘stop raping us’ written in large black letters across her upper body alongside the Ukrainian flag colours of blue and yellow - she also had red handprints across her crotch and upper thighs and the word ‘scum’ on her back. 

She stormed the red carpet of the premier for Three Thousand Years of Longing, and began to yell: “Stop raping us.”

She was quickly approached by security staff who removed her from the area. 

A French activist group called Scum posted on Twitter to say: “A SCUM activist enters the red carpet of the #Cannes2022 festival to denounce the sexual violence inflicted on Ukrainian women in the context of the war.”

Une activiste SCUM s'introduit sur le tapis rouge du festival de #Cannes2022 pour dénoncer les violences sexuelles infligées aux ukrainiennes dans le contexte de la guerre.#cannes2022redcarpet pic.twitter.com/cGEJDghD2k

— SCUM (@scum_officiel) May 20, 2022

There have been numerous allegations of sexual violence against women in Ukraine by Russian forces since the country was invaded earlier this year. 

Back in April, Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and Ms. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, issued a statement urging officials into investigating the allegations. 

The joint statement read in part: “We are deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha and other localities, and gravely concerned about mounting allegations of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls in the context of the war in Ukraine. 

“We echo the UN Secretary-General in his calls for the war in Ukraine to stop - now. Such wars and related displacement heighten risks of all forms of sexual violence including trafficking in persons, impacting women and girls disproportionately. 

“Rigorous investigation of allegations of sexual violence must be conducted to ensure justice and accountability, as a central aspect of deterrence and prevention of such crimes. It is vital that all efforts are made to ensure protection and the provision of life-saving and recovery services for survivors of sexual violence. 

“While security and access restrictions continue to pose significant challenges for the verification of information by the United Nations, this should not paralyse urgent and immediate action to put in place prevention and response measures.”

As yet Cannes Film Festival has not commented on the incident and the woman involved has not been named. 

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor's Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org